Teachers quit at term end

Three Hawick High School teachers are among an exodus of secondary and primary teachers set to leave their jobs at the end of the current session.

The move was recently approved by Scottish Borders Council and will see the departure of 28 secondary and 10 primary teachers over the next 15 months – with most set to leave at the end of the month.

Aged between 54 and 62, the 38 were selected from 102 teachers who, between January and March this year, expressed an interest in taking early retirement or voluntary severance.

A further 15 members of the local authority’s non-teaching staff – out of 34 who expressed an interest and aged 51 to 61 – have also been given the green light to go.

The cost to the council of the teacher deals will be £749,539 for 27 severance packages, although this will be recouped in wage savings after an average of 18 months. A further £48,201 will be spent on 11 compensatory pension payments.

Losing the 15 non-teaching staff will involve one-off costs of £516,051, allowing the council to make future annual savings of £320,763 on salaries. The chosen ones include a 59-year-old librarian, a 57-year-old chief officer and a 52-year-old janitor.

SBC is also considering charging pre-school children who live in Midlothian and East Lothian for nursery placements in the Borders.